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National Geographic Society. 


Today's Problems in India 
1921. 


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GEOGRAPHIC NEWS BULLETIN 


ON 


TODAY *S PROBLEMS IN INDIA: 
PREPARED AND ISSUED BY 


THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 


(Founded in 1888, for the Increase and Diffusion of Geographic Knowledge) 
General Headquarters, Washington, D. C. 


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Release Immediately, 
Washington, D. C. 

"It is hard to visualize Christian missions in India because 
‘the character of the problem and the. ways of meeting that problem dif- 
fer in different parts of a country which is two thirds as large as the 
United States, but which contains three times as many people," says a 
bulletin issued from the Weshington, D, C., headquarters of thie Nation- 
al Geographic Society, 

"Not only does the geographic enviroment of India vary from 
the deserts of Sind to the steamy coasts of Bombay or Madras presi-~ 
dencies, from the paddy fields of South India to the rocky gorges of 
ihe Chamba district, but the religious environment varies greatly as 


well and adds immeasurably to the complexity of the missionary progrem. 


Indian Temples Places of Confusion (Subhead) 


"The visitor to Indian temples will see more to remind him of 
the tfather's house made a house of merchandise! than he will of the 
spiritual sublimity of a true temple, Money changers flank the en-~- 
trances; the courts are crowded with sellers of cheap notions and toys; 
‘the whir of sewing machines fashioning new garments drowms out the 


§ 


mumbled prayers of the penitent; priestly palms are stretched forth in 


TODAY'S PROBLEMS IN INDIA {Page 2) 


search of alms more often than in benediction, Oniy in the Mohammedan 
mosques will one find a sincerity of worship and a Simplicity of re~- 
ligious service which compares favorably with Christian ceremonies, 
"The Mohammedan of the north mst be approached in an entire- 
ly different way from the Hindu or Dravidian peoples of the south with 
their thousands of gods and their degraded religion, The lordly Sikh 


requires a different aporoach from that which wins the love and respect 
of the outcaste of the Telegu region, Yet India is overburdened with 
jJoctrines and a Shristian life stands out the more plainiy herp in 
the native religions there is too loose a relation between piety and 
<ood works, The man who stops to go through the genuflestions of an 
idolatrous prayer before paying a visit to a tempie danoirg girl, and 
the Mohammedan who purifies his body before joining in the proclamation 
that there is no god but God and that Mohammed in His prophet are both 
cognizant of the personal character of the Christian missionary, 
"Mission work varies as much as church work does in America 
and at the same time does many things which other institutions do in 
American life. There is the intensive work in certain centers whieh 
includes evangelical, educational and medical work such as is done by 
metropolitan churches with their satellite chapels: and social service 
activities: by the public, private and denominational schools and col- 


leges; and by the public clinics and hospitals of a large city. 


of America (Subdhead) 


"If one goes to Madras or Lahore or Rangoon, he may well con- 
fuse mission buildings and activities with governmental properties and 


works, He will see large buildings, well kept and filled with well ~ 


TODAY'S PROBLEMS IN INDIA (Page 3) 


dressed crowds of students or with long lines of poor people waiting 
ror free medical treatment, Or some Sunday morning, with the bells 
singing a reminder of New England scenes, he will be astonished to see 
% colorful crowd of natives pouring out from the doors and stopping to 
zossip in the after-church manner common around the world. He will 
find large, fine laboratory buildings in which missionary educators are 
teaching courses in practical chemistry and he will sée little differ- 
ence between mission colleges and the schools.in America, 

"Some days later he may be in some remote district impatient 
at his neglect to provide himseif with a mosquito net end trying to 
Sleep on the rattan lounge of the railway waiting-room when he hears 
the sound of a cornet, Being unable to derive any comfort from sleep 
he will go out to see what the commotion is about and find that a mis- 
sionary evangelist has set up an outdoor screen on which to project 
pictures and is telling the story of Christ to a shadowy mass of half 
nude people who listen with breathless interest, 

"In the populous regions in the neighborhood of great Indian 
»ities, Christian missionaries are doing everything in their power to 
aid in the difficult adjustment of the teeming multitudes to new and 
often uncongenial tasks, And throughout India at a time when feeling 
against the white man is appreciable the followers and friends of 
Christian missionaries have gone out of their way to testify to their 
trust in those’ whom they had come to recognize as faithful counselors 


and friends, 
Practical Schools Meet Indian Needs (Subhead) 


"Christinn mission schools have led in training their students 


TODAY'S PROBLEMS IN INDIA (Page 4) 


Torva practitadL life; Agricultural and manual training schools, 
sourses in industrial chemistry and other practical subjects have given 
5 dignity to manual labor and toil which the schools of academic sub- 
sects have not, Meeting as they do, the needs of a country which is 
sredominantly agricultural and industrial, mission schoois have added 
very little to such unrest as has been stirred up by, the jobless gradu~ 
ates of academic courses. It is probable that the influence of such 
practical courses will aid considerably in introducing a steadying 
factor into the political maeistrom,: 

"Side by side with those utilitarian courses which have been 
designed to dignify the horny hand of toil and to provide funds from 
which the Christian community can derive 1%s support, thers have been 
theological courses which have trained young converts:for spiritual 
leadership. The present question is whether tne influence of these 
men will be given to native movements or to supporting the structure of 
foreign political or spiritual control, 

"Although industrial conditions and centers in India have had’ 
‘ore than their share in the news of unrest, India is still predominant- 
iy an agricultural tena nee people live in thousands of widely 
scattered villages, These remote regions are seldom seen by travelers 
and even the District Collector and other government officers seldom 


visit them, But remote indeed is the spot where one carmot find some 


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iristian missionary or hear of the good influence of some native col- 
porter or Bible woman, In these days of unrest and distrust, only the 
yroven white man is called into counsel, and one finds missionaries well ~ 


informed about conditions in India. 


TODAY'S PROBLEMS IN INDIA (Page 5) 


Bridging Gulf of Caste (Subhead) 


"Although certain. missionaries were lacking in judgment dur- 
ing the troubled days of war, most of the missionaries are well liked 
oy the foreign residents and the natives as well, With caste still a 
mighty force in Indian life, the Puc atiat missionary is probably the 
only person who can run the gamut of social contacts from the 'untouch- 
ables,! the despised outcasts, to the 'inaccessibles,! whose social 
position demands exclusiveness, 

"There has been in recent years in India, a turning away from 
the established religions of the land, a revolt against spiritual domi- 
nation by a priestly class whose faults were evident to all who give 
thought to the matter. Reform groups have striven to save the intel- 
lectuals from the drift toward agnosticism and materialism which has 
been under way for te wedoas 

"In many mission fields in India, the missionaries are under- 
going a humiliating experience which the missionaries in Japan have had 
to face and which today faces many of the political agents in Eastern 
ands, When self support. has come to Indian churches there has gone 
in many cases the last chance for an exclusively Occidental interpreta- 
tion of an Oriental Saviour to an Oriental race, Some native Chris- 
tians are beginning to insist on thinking for themselves, and many 
Christian supporters of missions would be Seni ecd to see how native 
Christians, left to their swn devices, can sweep aside Occidentalisms 
waich many westerners consider factors of Christianity, and come to the 
basic message which an Oriental Rack ay presented before Oriental 


audiences of simple folk, 


TODAY'S PRODIEMS IN INDIA (Page 6) 


ee tet 


Indian Mental Outlook Changing (Subhead) 


"Such asceticism as Christ enjoined for his disciples is held 
in good repute in India, The missionary who has considered his con- 
stituency a potential field for western salesmanship may suffer from a 
readjustment of the mental outlook of his people which turns away from 
the machinery of modern industrialism toward the simple life of their 
fathers, When Gandhi, the most popular leader among the natives, 
sensing the conflict between God and Mammon, renounced his wealth, he 
yastly increased his spiritual and political capital, Although many 
Yhristian missionaries to India renounced much when they left their 
ome land to labor in foreign fields, that fact is not always apparent 
10 their followers in small Indian viNages where the mission compound 
is the Eden of the community. India is full of faquirs who, in the 
name of religion will undergo\misery, degradation and suffering. Beside 
them, the Christian missionary seems to be having a very pleasant time, 
although his American friends may look upon his life as one long 
sacrifice, 

"if he would begin to understond the situation in India the 
Westerner must recognize the fact that religion is very real to India, 
It probably occupies a fer larger place in the thoughts of the people 
than it does in the thoughts of many an American deacon, Religion in 
India is expected todo many things which in America are done by purely 
material agencies, But in general the missionary problem in India is 
just what it is in America, There is the same agnostic, the same 
victim of superstition, the same indifferent man, the same person whose 


ignorance is his main drewback, But there is one very vital. differ- 


ence. 


"In India, except in 2 few favored communities, the Christian 
nessage Comes as a promise of a Utopia so much at variance with the 
tives and thoughts of the people that it stands out as a bright light 
against a dark night," 


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